“Hey, Tank, let me get back to you,” Grayson said. He clicked over to the incoming call.
“Yeah.”
“I’m going to assume since I have not heard from you in two days you have not found the girl,” the voice on the other end said. Grayson bit down on the inside of his cheek before he responded.
“No, we ain’t found your side piece yet. I’m glad you called so I can tell you that’s gonna have to wait. We got Breed business to take care of now. All because of you and these faggots,” Grayson said.
“I thought I made myself clear the other day. Nothing is more important right now than finding Tangerine. Was there some miscommunication?”
“No, you was clear, but now I got a missing prospect and a nigger out of Red Hill County who thinks he can hold a fucking machete to my neck and stay upright.”
The voice sighed.
“Elucidate the situation more clearly for me.”
“What?” Grayson said.
“Tell. Me. What. Happened.” The voice pronounced each word with an overexaggerated enunciation that made Grayson’s vision go stark white.
“Don’t talk to me like I’m stupid. Just because I don’t keep a dictionary by my nightstand don’t mean I’m stupid,” Grayson said.
“Tell me.”
“Well, I followed your suggestion and sent a couple prospects out to the punks’ house to see what they could see. When they got there apparently them boys’ daddies was in the house. One of them jumped the prospects, and the other snuck up behind them and knocked them out. When the one that came back woke up his brother was gone and so was the daddies.”
“Hmm.”
“Yeah. Now this prospect, he saw a truck in front of the house with the name of a lawn-care business on the side of the door. You wanna know who owned the truck?” Grayson said.
“One of the fathers, I assume.”
“You bet your fucking ass it did. Randolph Lawn Care. We rolled over there, but this motherfucker, he ain’t no square. He got jail ink. He done some real time. We won’t expecting that,” Grayson said.
“Let me guess. He was able to ward off you and your brothers,” the voice said.
“He got the drop on us, yeah. He don’t know it yet, but that’s the last time he ever gonna walk straight. We’re going back and we’re gonna fix him up right,” Grayson said. The voice didn’t speak for a long time.
“No, you’re not.”
“Excuse the fuck out of me? I told you, this is Breed business now. Your little honeypot is gonna have to wait. That bitch been gone bye-bye for a long time anyway,” Grayson said. He picked up his mini-sledgehammer gavel and started tapping it against the table.
“No, it’s still my business. Stop and think for a moment. The fathers of two dead sons are in their boys’ home weeks after the funeral. Why? Did your remaining prospect note any furniture being moved out of the home? Doesn’t seem like they were retrieving any family heirlooms. Then these two men, these grieving fathers, whoop your prospects’ collective asses, but instead of calling the police and reporting a breakin, they disappear with a hostage in tow. Then when you and your rolling gang of miscreants confront one of these grieving gentlemen, not only does he get the drop on you, he again does not alert the police. Now tell me, what does that say to you? And before you answer, consider what you told me about one of these men. A hard man who has done hard time. What do think all this means? Better yet, tell me what you would do, being the kind of man you are, if persons unknown killed your son?” the voice asked. Grayson pulled the phone away from his ear and laid it against his forehead for a few seconds before answering the voice’s question.
“First of all, I wouldn’t have a gay son. Second of all, I already know this. Everything you just said, I’ve already thought about. That’s why I’m gonna put them ten toes up. We don’t need nobody poking around that thing that we took care of,” Grayson said.
“How much did the prospect know about our arrangement?” the voice asked. Grayson relished the hint of fear in the voice when it asked that question.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. He ain’t know shit.”
“Good. Because you know he isn’t coming back, right? I know men like this. I’ve seen thousands of them over the years. They can’t resist their true nature. If they took him out of that house, that was the last sunset he ever saw,” the voice said. Grayson had figured as much himself, but hearing it from that soft-talking motherfucker made him nearly go blind with fury. He knew Andy wasn’t on this side of the dirt anymore. He didn’t need this arrogant asshole to explain that to him.